Making the Change to a Plant-Based Diet

I decided to go plant based in January of 2025, intending to complete Veganuary and reintroduce dairy products (and maybe even meat) in February. In the end, I didn't feel the need to reintroduce these products at all and I am on my way to completing a whole year of plant-based eating! Every time I tell someone this, there's the question about how difficult it must be and my honest answer to that is... it hasn't been difficult at all!

Now I know I have the privilege of having many many readily available plant-based options in the supermarkets, and many many resources available to me on the internet so this is not me saying everybody can and should be making this switch. But if the thing stopping you is the fear that you don't know what to make or what to buy, let this be a sign that you'll figure it out!

Some people worry that eating plant-based means eating the same thing day in and day out, but I don't find this to be the case. From subscribing to a vegetable box every two weeks to getting familiar with the international foods aisle at the supermarket, my diet has actually significantly diversified since making the change. I had to push through the barrier of not wanting to try new things and believing I didn't like everything I had never eaten, but once I did the world of food has become much richer for me.

The key thing when intially making the switch is that it does not have to be complicated and you don't have to change what you're eating signficantly. For me, it started with buying vegan butter and plant based sausages to make sausage and mash! Super easy swaps to make, and a meal I know I love. Things like burgers can be swapped out like for like too with either frozen or refigerated vegan burgers. Bolognese can be made with lentils or a mince alternative, and mashed chickpeas can replace tuna. There's a whole host of simple swaps that will mean taking on a plant-based diet is not a completely overwhelming task.

You might notice that those options I listed don't necessarily sound like the "healthiest" things you could eat, and that leads me into a common misconception about the plant-based diet - plant-based does not equal healthy. If your aim with going plant-based is to eat better and be healthier, it is a great way to do it. You can priorities the vegetables in every meal, focus on whole foods and tofu and seek out health-focused vegans on social media. But it is also OK to make the plant-based diet suit your lifestyle and your needs, and if that is not prioritising healthy eating, that's OK too!

It is also important to remember that you don't have to be perfectly plant-based. If you just add one day a week where you don't eat meat, that's a big step! If you're completely plant based except for cheese, that's OK! Your diet is yours to define, and labels urge us to be all-or-nothing with it but ultimately that may not work for you. Something is better than nothing when it comes to making the switch, so give yourself a bit of slack.

Veganuary is such a great time to give being plant-based a try, so keep an eye on the shelves and see what fun vegan products we get next year!